On this great feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we give humble thanks to God for our new apostolate in Philadelphia. This past week, St. Mary Church in Conshohocken celebrated its first week of Masses as an apostolate of the Fraternity of St. Peter, beginning with a Solemn High Mass on Sunday, September 9th, offered by Fr. Carl Gismondi, the new pastor of St. Mary. He was assisted by Fr. Gregory Eichman, pastor of our apostolate in Harrisburg, as deacon, and Fr. Scott Allen, chaplain to the Carmelite monastery in Philadelphia, as subdeacon. Over 500 people attended!

Visit St. Mary’s new website, www.stmarylatinmass.com, for the new Mass schedule.

Our thanks to Allison Girone for her photographs of the event.

On September 8th, 2018, the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, Bishop Philip Egan of the Diocese of Portsmouth, UK, raised our apostolate in Reading to the rank of a personal parish. The FSSP has served the Latin Mass community in Reading, about 40 miles west of London, for seventeen years, and the community is now established as the Parish of St. John Fisher. The new parish, the FSSP’s first personal parish in the UK and only our fourth in Europe, will continue to function out of St. William of York Church until it finds a permanent home. Fr. Andrzej Komorowski, Superior General of the FSSP, said in a joint press release with the Diocese:

“The establishment of this Parish represents an important step, firstly for our priests and parishioners in Reading, but also for the FSSP’s apostolic endeavours elsewhere. This is the first such parish in the UK and only the FSSP’s fourth in Europe after Rome, Amsterdam and Thalwil, Switzerland. I am very grateful to Bishop Egan and the diocesan staff involved in the creation of the Parish, to our priests who have ministered in Reading over the years and of course to the faithful for their spiritual and financial support.”

Fr. Matthew Goddard, who has led the Reading community since 2015, was appointed as the pastor of the new parish, and Fr. Patrick O’Donohue of the Diocese of Galway and Fr. Seth Phipps continue in their roles as assistants. Fr. Phipps, who attended Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary and was ordained this past June at St. Mary’s Shrine in Warrington, joined Reading on the 1st of this month when former assistant Fr. James Mawdsley was reassigned to our apostolate in Vienna, Austria.

You can read the full press release here, and you can learn more about the new parish at their website here.

We give abundant thanks to God for this great gift, and we ask you to please pray for the furthering of our work throughout the UK and the continent of Europe.

Today is the First Friday of September, and many of you who read the Missive will participate today in the well-known Sacred Heart devotions that take place every first Friday of the month. Most, if not all, Fraternity parishes hold public devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on this day, devotions that include Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart and often a Holy Hour and the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart. Some parishes offer particular opportunities such as FSSP Dallas’ Vigil of the Two Hearts, a tradition begun by the Carmelite convent they once called home and that they continued after they moved to their current church. The Vigil includes a full night of adoration and reparation that connects the (usually) consecutive First Friday and First Saturday of the month. But where did all these devotions originate, and what is their purpose?

The devotion of the nine First Fridays was requested by Our Lord Himself in the revelations He made regarding His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a nun of the Visitation Order who lived in France in the 17th century. These revelations precipitated a great increase of devotion to the Sacred Heart, including the establishment of the feast day that takes place on the third Friday after Pentecost. Our Lord made twelve promises to those devoted to His Heart, and among them is the following:

“I promise you in the unfath­omable mercy of My Heart that My omnipotent love will procure the grace of final penitence for all those who receive Communion on nine successive first Fridays of the month; they will not die in My disfavor, or without having received the Sacraments, since My Divine Heart will be their sure refuge in the last moments of their life.”

The particular intention of the First Friday devotions is to offer reparation for the innumerable offenses committed against the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The requirements for fulfilling the devotion and obtaining the promise are to receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months, as Our Lord instructed, and to have the intention of making reparation to the Sacred Heart.

In these days of great turmoil in the Church, it is of particular urgency that we begin or renew our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the spirit of reparation. The practice of the nine First Fridays is a particularly powerful way to do this, as He Himself gave us this devotion as a sure way of offering reparation to Him and consoling His Sacred Heart. Let us not waste such an opportunity, then, but rather take full advantage of the means that He has given us. Check the bulletin to see what devotions your parish has planned for today, and stay tuned next month as we explore the origins of the First Saturday devotions in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Immaculate Conception Parish, the FSSP’s apostolate in El Paso, on the southwest border of Texas, has a habit of making history. Planned and built in 1893 by Fr. Carlos Pinto, S.J., the “Apostle of El Paso”, the church was the provisional cathedral (or “pro-cathedral”) of the Diocese of El Paso from the establishment of the diocese by Pope St. Pius X in 1914 until the permanent cathedral, St. Patrick’s, was finished in 1917. The first Bishop of El Paso, Bishop Anthony Schuler, was installed at this church, and it is now celebrating its 125th anniversary and 4 years as an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

To commemorate these historical markers, Immaculate Conception proposed another one: the first Pontifical Mass to be celebrated in the El Paso Diocese in more than 50 years. The Mass took place on the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady on August 15th, the celebrant being His Excellency the Most Reverend Joseph Perry, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago.

To learn more, we spoke with Fr. Kevin O’Neill, FSSP, pastor of Immaculate Conception. A possible Pontifical Mass at the parish had been on Fr. O’Neill’s mind for some time, and the feast of the Assumption on such an important anniversary year offered the perfect opportunity. With the permission of His Excellency the Most Reverend Mark Seitz, Bishop of El Paso, who had first invited the FSSP to administer the parish in 2014, the planning began, with preparations ramping up in the two months preceding the Mass. In addition to putting out a flyer advertising the Mass, Fr. O’Neill also discussed it in a segment on local radio and wrote a piece for the El Paso diocesan paper. It was, as Fr. O’Neill says, a special event not only for Immaculate Conception but for the whole diocese and the greater El Paso area, a region with a rich Catholic history that can be traced back centuries.

Additionally, Immaculate Conception was given a special gift leading up to the Mass that contributed to the beautiful music that accompanied it: the organ formerly in use at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. The seminary was recently blessed with a new instrument, installed earlier this year, and the pro-cathedral of El Paso was able to give the old one a second career in its own choir loft. However, the task of hoisting an organ into the loft of such an old building was not an easy one, Fr. O’Neill explains: the floor could not support a forklift, so the parish was forced to think creatively as to how to accomplish the task. The answer came in the form of a handcrank, a crew of daring workers, and, you might say, a little help from the angels.

But the busy preparation days, the toil of installing an organ, and the myriad tasks required to make ready for a Pontifical Mass were abundantly rewarded. The festivities began on the vigil-day of the Assumption, August 14th, when Bishop Perry gave a talk on the importance of the traditional liturgy at a nearby venue.

The following evening, at 6:30pm on Our Lady’s great feast day, the Solemn Mass was offered. It was a joyful and successful event, the overflowing church testifying to the enthusiasm for this historic occurrence, visitors coming from as far away as Houston, a city on the opposite side of a very large state (and in a different time zone). For a bit of perspective on just how far that is, it would have taken you less time to drive from Denver, Colorado – two states away. Fr. O’Neill served as Assistant Priest during the Mass, Fr. Robert Ferguson as Deacon and the newly-ordained Fr. Martin Rangel-Garcia as Subdeacon. The El Paso Choral Society sang the Missa Ave Maris Stella by Tomás Luis de Victoria and the schola of Immaculate Conception chanted the Propers of the Mass. The organ, for its part, acquitted itself admirably.

We rejoice with Immaculate Conception on this remarkable occasion and with the entire Diocese of El Paso, which has again been graced with a Pontifical Mass after so great a span of time. May this be but the first of many more to come.

Fr. Daniel Mould was born in 1987 in Timaru, a town on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. He received a Catholic education at Sacred Heart Primary School and Roncalli College in Timaru and spent 2 years at the University of Otago in Dunedin studying for a bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy. It was while studying the complexities of biology that the truth of the power and goodness of God became undeniable. This led to an intense and rapid renewal of faith, such that he felt it was necessary to leave his studies and pursue the possibility of a religious or priestly vocation.

Some providential events led him to attend his first Traditional Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Christchurch, and he remembers thinking, “…this is awesome, this is the Mass the saints talk about…” He tried to figure out how he could be a priest that only does the Traditional Mass. Within a few months, the Cathedral’s Latin Mass became an apostolate of the Fraternity of St. Peter, so that settled that question. He applied to enter Ezechiel House in Sydney, Australia, for his first year of formation before going on to Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in the United States. Fr. Mould would like thank everybody who has helped him with their sacrifices and prayers – please continue to pray for him, and he will remember you at the altar.

This past summer, Mater Dei Parish, our apostolate in Dallas, Texas, hosted a three-day conference for single young adults aged 20+. The conference was led by Mater Dei parochial vicar Fr. Timothy O’Brien, assisted by Fr. Joshua Houck. We caught up with Fr. O’Brien after his recent return from the Saint Francis Xavier mission trip to the Dominican Republic, and he told us more about the conference and the level of response the parish received for the brand-new event – a response that we find rather astounding.

Judging by the number of attendees alone, the conference was a smash success. Over 90 young adults converged on Mater Dei from not only Texas, but all around the Midwest and Southwest: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Arizona were all represented. The itinerary of the conference, which ran from Friday, June 22nd, through Sunday, June 24th, included Mass, the Rosary and talks by Fr. O’Brien and Fr. Houck. Fr. O’Brien addressed topics related to Catholic culture and how to make the Faith a priority, and Fr. Houck spoke on the specific practices that we can adopt in order to live that Faith. A trip to a local park for kickball and other sports on Saturday provided an opportunity for recreation and fellowship, and a contra dance with a live band finished out the second day. The conference concluded on Sunday with Solemn High Mass followed by a pancake breakfast.

One of the notable aspects of this event that we cannot help but think contributed to the impressive turnout was the low cost. The registration fee was only $10. You read that right. Ten dollars. Because meals were provided but not lodging, the cost could be kept low, and those coming from a distance could opt to stay with friends in the area or split the cost of hotel rooms nearby. For young adults who are working or going to college and often do not have many funds to spare, the low price tag must have made the trip especially doable.

Will this be a yearly event, you ask? Well, there are certainly plans afoot to make it so, perhaps even twice a year in the spring and the fall when the weather is not as hot as it is in Texas in June. With such an enthusiastic response to the inaugural event, the future of Mater Dei’s young adult conference certainly appears to be bright indeed. We encourage you to keep an eye on the parish’s website and to stay tuned here at the Missive for information about future events.

On Tuesday, August 21st, 2018, the feast of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, St. Mary Church in Providence, Rhode Island, held its first Mass as an FSSP apostolate. Fr. John Berg, former Superior General of the FSSP, serves as the pastor of St. Mary, which now offers a full schedule of Masses as follows:

Monday – Thursday: 7:00 a.m.

Friday: 6:30 p.m.

Saturday: 9:00 a.m.

Sunday: 10:00 a.m.

The church is located at 538 Broadway, Providence, RI 02909.

We are once again grateful to Bishop Thomas Tobin for inviting us to serve the faithful of this beautiful and historic church, and look forward to the future as we begin our work in Rhode Island.

Fr. Cunningham was born November 24th, 1980, in Fort Pierce, FL. Very soon after that, his family moved to Spartanburg, SC where he lived until entering the seminary.

Fr. Cunningham, a cradle Catholic, asked a question to Jesus through Mary and followed that question to the altar through the Fraternity of St. Peter. Fr. Cunningham has an older brother, Steve, and a younger sister, Kristina; as a child, he spent his free time playing sports and helping with the family business. His father, Steve, served as a US Navy corpsman in the Vietnam War and died from health complications due to exposure to Agent Orange in 2007. Donna, Fr. Cunningham’s mother, was the spiritual leader of the family and a guiding influence on where he and the whole family are today. Fr. Cunningham pursued a career in baseball after college, but when that goal became unrealistic, he worked on other career paths. During this time he was not thinking about a vocation to the priesthood, but rather thought that he was called to marriage. God had other plans, though. Fr. Cunningham felt the “fingernail of God” scratching at his heart and was moved by grace to “jump through the open door” of a priestly vocation. Considering all opportunities, he felt most at home with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

Fr. Cunningham credits his hearing of his call to the priesthood to the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God. Fr. Cunningham asked Mary, in a time of disorientation and exhaustion, to “ask your Son what He wants me to be and I’ll do it. Whether that is to be a priest or to be married…I don’t care, I’ll do it.” She, as always, asked her Son what He wanted and He gave the answer to Fr. Cunningham through her intervention. In biblical terms, it was like the scene at the wedding feast of Cana (John 2:3-5), specifically what Mary said: “Do whatever He tells you.” Her words lead to the answer given by Jesus (John 21:22), “follow Me.”

Fr. Cunningham is currently serving his first assignment as the assistant pastor of the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori, our apostolate in Baltimore, Maryland.

Our seminarians from Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary have been busy this summer. Every year after the conclusion of the spring semester and priestly ordinations, the seminarians are sent to assist at various apostolates, missions, summer camps, pilgrimages or other places where they can be of service. This year, some were sent to lend their hands and minds to our apostolates in the Southern Cross Region comprising Australia and New Zealand – where it is currently winter (we hear the weather was nice).

New Zealand was the first stop, where they were guided in their travels by New Zealander Fr. Daniel Mould, one of our priests who was recently ordained in Omaha and originally hails from Timaru on the South Island. Fr. Mould celebrated first Masses at various destinations around his home country, including Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch. Bishop Emeritus Basil Meeking of Christchurch was in attendance at one of his Masses, and the group assisted at a Solemn Pontifical Mass with Bishop Meeking at the Trans-Alpine Redemptorist chapel in Christchurch.

Afterwards the seminarians headed up to Australia, five of them covering 2,500 miles over four weeks as they visited the Fraternity’s four apostolates scattered along the southeast coast. They spent a weekend at our apostolate in Adelaide, conducting altar server training, meeting the parishioners and participating in two Solemn High Masses. They toured the beautiful neo-Gothic cathedral in Sydney and attended the yearly conference of the Australia Catholic Students Association (ACSA) in Melbourne, which included informative speakers and fellowship with young Catholics and other religious in attendance. But the best part, according to Mr. Daniel Alloy, who just finished his 6th year at seminary, “…was a philosophy camp we ran for 65 kids in Sydney. I taught the 10-12 year-olds, and I couldn’t believe how eager they were to learn! They asked great questions, and I chuckled as they ran around the sports field, talking about Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.”

While Fr. Mould will be serving his first assignment at FSSP South Bend in Indiana, Australia recently welcomed another of our new priests, Fr. Richard Wallace, who was ordained with Fr. Mould and is now stationed in Sydney. Please keep our apostolates in the Land Down Under in your prayers, as well as the globe-trotting seminarians and their classmates at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary who will soon be starting a new academic year after their summer – or as the case may be, winter – adventures.

Photo captions, top to bottom: Visiting Hobbiton; sunset in Akaroa, South Island; tomb of Australian saint Mother Mary of the Cross; Mr. Alloy holds a koala at a zoo near Sydney. Our thanks to Mr. Alloy for the photos and his contributions to this article.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter wishes you a joyful and most blessed feast of the Assumption of Our Lady! This great feast of Our Blessed Mother is a Holy Day of Obligation, so be sure to check with your parish for today’s Mass times.

Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Our Lady to be an infallible dogma of the Church by means of the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, issued as a Papal Bull on November 1st, 1950. The feast is, however, much older, having been celebrated since at least the early 8th century. The Assumption is one of the four dogmas of Our Lady along with those of her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity and her title of Theotokos, that is, the Mother of God.

Hence the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages. (Munificentissimus Deus, 40).